Was Martinez misled?

Figure skater Michael Martinez was apparently misled into believing he had no chance to make it to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang after finishing eighth at the second and final qualifying competition, the Nebelhorn Trophy, in Obertsdorf, Germany, last September. Only the top six Nebelhorn finishers advanced to Pyeongchang.

In a twist of fate, Martinez booked his second Olympic ticket as he moved up the Nebelhorn qualifying ladder from eighth to sixth because the US had already qualified three skaters via the quota limit (the second placer was American Alexander Johnson) and third placer Russian-born Swede Alexander Majorov withdrew. But the confirmation of Martinez’ slot came only three weeks before the Pyeongchang event.

After Nebelhorn, Martinez virtually ended his skating career. If he had booked the Olympic ticket outright, Martinez would’ve stayed sharp by competing at the Cup of Nice in France, the Santa Claus Cup in Hungary and the Four Continents Cup in Taipei in preparing for Pyeongchang. Instead, he skipped the three competitions even as his main sponsor The SM Group continued to provide support.

It appears that the Philippine Skating Union (PSU) advised Martinez to forget about Pyeongchang after he failed to qualify at the Nebelhorn Trophy. But as the No. 1 standby, Martinez should’ve been told to continue practicing in case of a lastminute dropout. Or Martinez should’ve known better than to “pack up my skates” as that’s what he said he did. “Skaters withdrawing from competitions due to injuries are very common, thus being the No. 1 standby gave Michael possibilities to get into the Olympics,” said a skating source who declined to be identified. “I wonder why PSU outright dismissed all possibilities that Michael may indeed compete in the Olympics and made him retire at his young age.”

* * * * The source recalled that at the 2012 Youth Olympics, Martinez was the No. 6 standby because the PSU entered him in only one qualifying event instead of two. But Martinez still made it and even took third place in the short program. Lack of practice and training was evident in Martinez’ performance in the short program last Friday. The judges were unforgiving in ranking Martinez last among 30 skaters in skating skills, transitions and choreography. He managed to finish No. 28, way below the cut-off to advance to yesterday’s freeskate.

“It was not an Olympic level performance by Michael,” said the source. “He did lowlevel jumps, spins and step sequence. The poor execution of the routine program was not polished. It was boring. He was almost only gliding unlike the other skaters who showed intricate steps. He had no preOlympic competition. Michael landed his first triple axel in practice just a day or two before the competition, meaning he lost his jumps and spins due to lack of training. His scores were much lower than his junior scores of six to seven years ago.”

In preparing for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Martinez went through a grind of 13 events for a year. He made the cut for freeskate and wound up No. 19 overall of 30, not a bad performance for an Olympic rookie. “Weight and muscles have a great effect in skating,” the source said. “That’s why it’s critical to monitor a skater’s weight, food intake, sleep hours and training hours.”

* * * * The source said Martinez could’ve qualified easily for freeskate in Pyeongchang if only he stayed focused. Some of the qualifiers, including Japan’s Shoma Uno and China’s Boyang Jin, used to be outshone by Martinez in competitions a few years back.

The PSU should’ve advised Martinez to keep practicing because as the No. 1 standby, the probability of getting a call-up was more than just a sporting chance. In fact, Sweden indicated several months ago that Majorov would likely be pulled out because of certain performance standards so it should’ve triggered a signal for Martinez to stay sharp.